Prague Mint
History and the present of mintage in Prague and Bohemia[edit]
In the past, only the sovereign had the right to mint the coins, and they used to be regarded as his property. The quality and the circulation of coins had to be controlled in minting as well. It was a privileged right administered by a royal mintmaster. The Prague mint belonged to the most important mints, although there were several ones in Bohemia.
Mintage in Prague is older than in Vienna (1194) or Kremnica (1328). But, unlike these cities, periods of minting of coins alternated with breaks when the mint was closed. The founders and locations also changed.
The oldest mintages of the Prague Mint are from the second half of the 10th century to the beginning of the 11th century. Until the end of the 13th century, the Prague mint had a significant position, but the production could not be reliably recognized because marking of mints on the Czech dinars disappeared at the beginning of the 11th century. In 1300 the mintage of Prague Groschen could take place in Prague. Prague Groschen of Wenceslas II. had a high minting and artistic value. However, the centralization of the Czech minting and the introduction of the Prague Groschen caused that the coins ceased to be minted in Prague and the mintage took place in Kutná Hora.
Around 1325, during the reign of John of Luxembourg, the mintage in Prague was restored and the first gold coins – florens were minted here. Charles IV. let close the mints in Jáchymov and Kutná hora during his reign, and thus the production of the Prague Mint greatly increased. The gold coins were also minted regularly during the reign of Wladislaus II. Jagiello and Luis I. Jagiello. Also Ferdinand I. continued with the mintage of golden ducats and during his reign, in 1539, the mintage of the silver coin was restored. Mintage lasted with some breakes until 1856. In 1927 a new Prague Mint project was developed, but it was canceled. The minting of Czechoslovak coins took place in Kremnica. Even the Protectorate government did not want a mint in Prague. After the separation of Slovakia, the metal furniture factory Vichr a spol. in Lysá nad Labem used to mint coins. After the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1993 there was no area in Prague for a mint foundation and therefore, a new mint was founded in Jablonec nad Nisou.
This ancient tradition of minting in Prague is to be renewed by the newly established Pražská mincovna a.s. (Prague Mint Inc.), founded in 2011 and located in the building of the Municipal House. In 2013, the Prague Mint launched the first sample of the 20 h coin for the Czech National Bank.
Mints are conducted only by private companies In the Czech Republic. The Czech National Bank supervises the mintage. The central bank also makes decision on issuing coins. Both mints, which are privately owned in the Czech Republic, are not issuing authority, and they only ensure the production of coins.
Locations of mintage[edit]
There are many places in Prague where we can find traces of minting activities. The oldest mint was probably located at the Prague Castle and it is possible that the coins were also minted in the settlement around the castle in the Lesser Town Square. The coins had marking of PRAGA CIVITAS (the city of Prague). The workshop was also probably moved to Vyšehrad. The evidence are dinars (coins from that time) which by their inscriptions provide written evidence that Vyšehrad existed. For most dinars, the name of the sovereign is on the obverse side (BOLAZSAV or BOLEZLAUS) and minting place VAISGRAD, VSIGRAD or VITTEGRAD on reverse side. The use of Slavic terms instead of Latin is characteristic. Another place was Queen’s of Bohemia court in 14th century situated close to the King’s court. After the death of Wenceslas IV., the residence was bought by the Old Town community and was modified into a mint that ceased to exist in 1434. It was restored again in 1539.
In 1755 the mint palace was built in Celetna Street In Prague. In 1784, the mint ended its activity by order of the Emperor. The institution was transferred to the “bankal-administration” house in today's Husova Street.
External links[edit]
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